1 68 The Fermentation of Cacao 



of which is some 6 in. higher than the top 

 circumference of the staves. Such a "heaped" 

 barrel would contain an approximate weight of 

 300 Ib. of cacao ; but the factor of weight is far 

 too uncertain a one to be used in checking wet 

 cacao, for it is obviously a hopeless task to 

 accurately weigh a material from which juice is 

 continuously exuding. A delay of a quarter of 

 an hour would make an appreciable difference 

 in the weight of freshly picked cacao, but very 

 little difference in its bulk : therefore, in its wet 

 state, bulk or volume is a preferable measure 

 to weight. 



RATIO OF UNCURED TO CURED CACAO. 



Some few years ago the Agricultural Depart- 

 ments of the West Indies were concerned in 

 arriving at a true ratio in the weio-hts of 



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uncured to cured cacao, and the results of 

 experiments towards this end were published 

 from the Agricultural Stations of Trinidad and 

 Dominica, and other sources. They all varied 

 considerably, but I am convinced that they 

 were all honest attempts to create a fixed 

 ratio. They were equally correct and equally 

 incorrect, for a fixed ratio under all conditions 

 of air humidity and soil moisture, if attained 

 after many years' experiments, would partake 

 so much of the nature of a general average as 

 to be useless for everyday work. 



Where the flour barrel measurement is 

 used the following ratio can be relied on as 



